zolfavm. what you describe indicates you applied the Corn Gluten Meal too thickly and for the wrong reasons. CGM is a pre emergent, it aids in keeping seeds from rooting but does not stop already rooted plants from growing. The recommended application rate is 20 to 40 pounds per 1,000 square feet, applying more will not be better and most likely will attract unwanted vermin. kimmq is kimmsr

Mistina, what are you hoping to accomplish with this mixture? What is it supposed to do? The problem with many of these so called 'natural' or organic home remedies is that they really don't do anything despite being touted for all sorts of magical properties. Corn meal - or even corn gluten meal - really doesn't have significant herbicidal or fungicidal properties. Scientific testing to support any consistent herbicidal properties have not been able tosuccessfully duplicate the results generated by Iowa State University that caused all the hoopla to begin with. And the fungicidal properties simply do not exist. But since CGM is nearly pure protein, it's not at all a bad organic fertilizer (if you overlook the consideration that most feeder corn grown in the US is GMO'd). And Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) provides absolutely NO benefit to the garden unless you have a magnesium deficiency in your soil. If you want to use any of these or similar organic home remedies for weed control or pest or disease suppression, do some research first before you spend money purchasing these products needlessly. There are numerous websites outlining any scientific testing or investigation into the alleged beneficial properties these products may or may not possess. Look in particular for scientific papers or websites with the .edu suffix. Finally, purchasing food grade equivalents of these products at a grocery store will always be more expensive than buying in bulk from a feed lot source.

Sorry for the double post...the first one did not show up until I posted the second one.

No they are NOT the same. Straight corn meal is used to eliminate fungal problems primarilly in bodies of water and in aquaculture/fish farming. This was first worked on at Texas A&M. Corn gluten meal is the by product of the wet processing of corn to produce corn syrup and corn oil. CGM has been used as cattle feed for decades. However, the University of Iowa discovered that CGM could be used to control the germination of annual weed seeds if applied at the correct time and under prime conditions. It does nothing to prennial weeds except to fertilize them. Since CGM is about 65% protein, it also performs as a decent fertilizer with an analysis of 9-0-0. Straight corn meal has some benefit in controlling some types of fungal problems in lawns. It has no effect in treating take all root rot in St. Augustine lawns.